Saturday, July 2, 2011

Double Negative-Daydreamnation


Double Negative is one my favorite bands. They are one of Raleigh’s leading bands in the hardcore scene. Their sound is described as hardcore confusion. They have a unique sound for a hardcore band, but they still know how to stick to their 80’s hardcore punk roots. They’re unique in the way that they add a little bit of noise into it, which really adds to the intensity of it all. And let me tell you that this band is FAST and are quick to change things up, so be ready.
The first song Erase Yourself starts off with with loud pounding drums that invoke excitement, and you can’t help but want to push and or shove anyone or anything around you. It even has an awesome noisy guitar solo. This song starts the album off at 100 mph. In Patient Out is super noisy, and stays at a constant fast speed. If you listen to the guitarist it almost sounds like he’s improvising at some points, but it works out very well, and that’s what keeps it exciting. Once again provoking you to push/shove something around you.

The album doesn’t get slow at all until you reach the song Endless Disappointment. But don’t get me wrong, this song still kicks ass. It’s at more of a mid pace, but it has one of the catchiest chorus’s ever. One of those chorus’s that you’ll learn the lyrics to, so you can go to the show and be able to get in the singers face and sing along. Trust me, it feels pretty awesome.

The songs continue to flow by, and although some of the songs might seem to blend together, Double negative has this sound that is so abrasive that you don’t really mind it. And they have such a fun but still kind of angry pissed off “fuck you” kind of sound. Towards the end we get to a song that sticks out the most on the album. It’s called Beg To a Vile Nude. Unlike most of the other songs on the album, this song is pure noisy sludge with a nice hints of blues. I mean, they’re from Raleigh, North Carolina, they gotta have atleast one sludge song. But just like the rest of the songs, it changes quick, and goes to an awesome riff and back to the fast pounding drums. Finally we get towards the end of the album to my favorite song Side Three. This song is incredibly fast, but manages to keep a really sick groove. The main riff in this song is just so awesome. It’s just absolute fun, care free chaos, but it’s performed at a certain precision by these guys that is just so awesome, and I really don’t think Many bands would ever be able to copy them.

This band is really special to me because they were the first local hardcore band I ever saw. It was at hopscotch music festival, and they were opening for Fucked Up, and I’d never heard anything about them. So I asked some people who they were, and they looked at me like I was crazy, and they told me Double Negative. This band opened me up to the hardcore scene that is around me in Raleigh. Without this band I really wouldn’t have had some of the great experiences I’ve had at the local shows I’ve been to. And just sayin.. if you ever get the chance to see Double Negative at the kent house(a house in raleigh that holds basement shows) then go to it, it’s a totally different experience up close and personal. And check out other kent house shows, they’re pretty rare now, but some great bands have played there such as D.O.C., Coke Bust, Old Painless(saw them for the first time at kent, never seen a more angry pit in my life), Priapus, Burma, Stripmines, Devour, Secret Police, Hellbear, Street Pizza, etc.

~Eli Thorp

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